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A 9^ 



LECTURE 



ON 



C|risfamtj aiA % CM ITafos, 



REV. JAMES A. LYON, D. B., 

OF COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPL 



COLUMBUS: 

"MISSISSIPPI democrat" prent. 

1859. 



Columbus, Miss., April 26th, 1859. 
Rev. James A. Lyon: 

Deur Sir: — Representing, as we believe, the 
seatiments of a very large number of those who 
lieard your able and instructive Lecture on ^^ Chris- 
tia^dly and the Civil Laivs,^^ delivered on the 24th 
inst.j we request a copy, at your earliest convenience, 

for publication. 

JOHN GILMER, 
JAMES WHITFIELD, 
JAMES HAMILTON, 
THOMAS G. BLEWETT, Sr., 
ALEX. F. YOUNG. 



Columbus, Miss., April 27th, 1859. 
To Col. John Gilmer, Gov. James Whitfield, 
AND others: 
Gentlemen: — In obedience to your kind request, I 
herewith furnish you with a copy of my Lecture for 
publication — with the hope that due allowance will 
be made for its many errors and defects. 
Yours, &c., very respectfully, 

JAMES A. LYON. 



^Ilinisitiimitn mH, i\u €JiviI ^m^. 



INTRODUCTION. 



About the 20tli of March last, some half dozen of 
the supposed ph'ated Africans, that had been smug- 
gled into the country by the "Wanderer," were 
brought within the hearing of the church bells of 
Columbus and offered for sale. This excited the 
disgust and indignation of many of our citizens. The 
author of this Lecture, fearing that some of his friends, 
being uninformed of the true moral character of the 
act, might be tempted to become a party in the crime 
of those who offered them for sale, by purchase, thereby 
involving themselves in difficulty and disgrace, availed 
himself of the first opportunity that offered of putting 
his fellow-citizens, and especially young men for whom 
he feels the deepest interest, on their guard against 
such temptation. This opportunity was soon afforded 
at a public and promiscuous meeting of the citizens, 
assembled to hear a lecture on morals and manners in 



general — at the close of which, there being ample 
time, the people were requested, by one of our most 
distinguished and wealthy planters, to remain seated 
and the author, being invited to speak, gave utterance 
to the indignation the people felt at being thus 
insulted by the aforesaid' violators of law who presumed 
that the high-toned, moral and intelligent people of 
Columbus could be tempted to become a party with 
them in their high crime. These sentiments, how- 
ever accordant with the views of the great majority 
of the citizens, as evinced by the significant and 
creditable fact that the aforesaid bold violator of law 
made no sale of his smuggled property in this place, 
were nevertheless not entirely without opposition 
sufficient to create a little excitement. This led the 
author to give notice in his pulpit that he would, on 
the following Sabbath afternoon, deliver a lecture on 
*' Christianity in its relation to the civil laws." This 
announcement brought the excitement to its acme 
on the part of the few that we shall term the Oppo- 
sition — "some," as the ancient Ephesians in Paul's 
day, "crying one thing, and some another," amongst 
which " confusion " — it was said — that the author had 
transcended his duty^in warning his friends against 
becoming parties in the aforesaid high crimes ! — that 
it was intermeddling with things that did not belong 
to his calling ! Others admitted that the thing itself, 
that is, the warning of men against the commission 



of crime and great sins, was not so very much out 
of the line of a clergyman's duty, but that the time 
and jjlace of doing it was exceptionable — that the 
Minister of the Gospel should not speak against sin 
and vice in the streets and markets y but should remain 
silent until, invested with gown and bands, he gets 
into the pulpit ! These and similar criticisms, gave 
occasion to the author to preface his Lecture with 
the following preliminary remarks — viz : 

I have been amused at the discussions that have 
taken place on the streets and elsewhere, by a certain 
class, as to the prerogative of the puljnt! Individuals 
who make no pretension to religion — who know 
nothing, scarcely, of the Bible — who can not tell the 
difference between the "Apochrypha" and "Apoc- 
alypse" — or distinguish between "John the Baptist" 
and "John the Evangelist," and " Judas Iscariot " 
and "Judas the author of the Epistle," with all the 
self-confidence of a church dignitary, will gravely 
pronounce on the prerogative of a Minister of the 
Gospel — and confidently decide as to what the Lord 
Jesus Christ has and has not commissioned his "am- 
bassadors" to proclaim! — what is proper, and what 
is not proper for the Minister of the Gospel, in trying 
humbly and conscientiously to discharge his duty, to 
say and to do ! ! I scarcely know which the more to 
admire, the supercilious self-conjidence or the ignorance 
of such self-constituted arbiters of the pulpit's pre- 



8 

rogative ! I know not but that it would be well for 
the information and comfort of such to deliver a 
special lecture on the proper prerogative of the pulpit, 
in which I should soon show that from the beginning 
to the end of the Bible — both by precept and exam- 
ple, by declaration and implication, it is made the 
solemn duty of the *' Watchmen on the walls of Zion " 
to "cry aloud and spare not" against — what? — all 
unrighteousness — and to inculcate — what? — all virtue! 
— which will extend to and embrace all the actions of 
all men, high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, 
in church and state. He who takes the ground that 
the Minister of the Gospel transcends his holy com- 
mission in preaching against corruption in the state — 
or wickedness in rulers, shows thereby that he does 
not understand the first principle of Bible teaching on 
this subject: that he is pitiably ignorant of God's 
word, and the practice and precept of Bible characters ! 
Such, doubtless, would pronounce Moses to have been 
an intemieddler in matters that did not belong to him 
in daring to confront Pharaoh, the great monarch of 
Eg}^t! Such would adjudge Samuel, Elijah, Jere- 
miah, and the prophets to have transcended their 
prerogative because they reproved kings for their 
wickedness! — and John the Baptist to have acted 
indiscreetly and rashly in boldly telling Herod of his 
violation of law. 

Nothing can be more absurd than the notion that 
the "Ambassadors" of the "King of Kings and Lord 



9 

of Lords" should ask sinners — consult the world, as to 
what they should preach, or hoiv^ when or where!! 
Paul, in the discharge of his duty as an Apostle of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, did *' not consult with flesh and 
blood" — but in "the castle" — before kings — ^in "the 
marketplace" — by the " river side," and on "Mar's 
Hill," the great court house of Athens, he lifted his 
voice fearlessly against all unrighteousness! So in 
like manner ought the successors of Paul to do the 
same, in the same manner, and in the same spirit. 
The strange fancy that a Minister of the Grospel must 
not open his mouth in proclaiming the truths of the 
Gospel in warning men against sin and iniquity, and 
in inculcating virtue, except in the pulpit, is simply 
ridiculous! Who ever imagined that Elijah waited 
for a pulpit before he delivered his terrible messages 
against wicked rulers ! or that Jesus Christ carried a 
pulpit about with him through the hills and valleys of 
Palestine! or that Paul, when "his spirit was stirred 
in him," called for a pulpit before he gave utterance 
to truths that made kings tremble on their thrones ! 
I have recently requested my people, in the language 
of Paul, (Eph: vi. 19, 20,) to pray "for me that 
utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my 
mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the 
Gospel, for which I am an Ambassador * * * that 
therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak" — 
and I trust their prayer has been graciously answered. 



10 



With these preliminary remarks, I shall now pro- 
ceed to discuss the main subject, which is Christianity 
in its relations to the civil laws of the country. 



LECTURE 



MARK XII: 17. 
"AxD Jesus answerixq said unto them — Render unto C^sar the 

THINGS THAT ARE CjSSAIl's, AND TO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE God's." 

I propose, at this time, to discuss a great moral 
question of fearful importance — fearful, because of 
its direct and powerful bearings upon the weal or the 
woe of society, not only in its social relations, but 
also in its organic and govermental aspects : — a ques- 
tion, too, because of its moral and religious bearings, 
that comes entirely within the province of the pulpit. 

I do not propose to discuss politics. This I leave 
to politicians, except w^hen politics cross the line into 
the domains of Christian morals, and invade the terri- 
tories of religion : then I will discuss so called politics, 
since it thereby becomes a question of morals, and a 
legitimate subject for the pulpit. 

I do not propose, at this time, to discuss the ques- 
tion of ''Slavery," although strictly a pulpit theme, 
as it is a Bible doctrine, and one that I have already 
treated, in years gone by, in this pulpit — the theme 
of my first discourse being, " Slavery in the light of 
the Bible," — and of my second, "Slavery in the 
light of God's providence," — besides, I have delivered 
elsewhere, and circulated in print in this community, 
still another discourse on the "Missionary Aspect of 
African Slavery." 



12 

Neither is it my intention to discourse on the subject 
of the "Slave Trade" between this country and 
Africa : nor to enquire whether it would redound to 
the best inerests of our country in any sense or aspect 
whatsoever, religious, moral, economical, or political 
to repeal existing laws on that subject — although 
I have very decided opinions on that question, and 
should deem it perfectly proper, nay, a binding duty, 
on account of its great moral and religious bearing, 
to express them if occasion required. But the present 
occasion does not require it. 

In short, I do not intend to investigate the intrinsic 
proj)riety or impropriety of any existing law. But 
the great theme of my present Lecture is the Bible 
command — the christian duty of every citizen to 
" Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and 
to God the things that are God's," — or, in other 
words, to reverence and obey Civil Law, which, in 
this country, to which the eyes of all nations are 
turned, is our only King ! 

My right, privilege and duty to discuss this subject, 
will hardly be called in question by any one, except 
such as are wholly ignorant of the duties pertaining 
to the office of the Christian ministry, and of the 
moral questions that come within the domains of the 
Christian pulpit. It is my right, my privilege, my 
duty to discuss the great doctrine of my text, because : 

First. I am a citizen, not only with equal rights 
and immunities with others, a part of the body politic, 
and a constituent of the commonwealtli, with common 
interests at stake, with a common future, and with 
the same patriotic hopes and aims, but I am bound, 
as such, to contribute my due proportion of influence 



13 

towards the prosperity of the body politic of which I 
am a member, and from which I receive protection. 

Second. I am not only a citizen, but I am more : I 
am the head of a family, the father of little 
children, who are now receiving an education, which 
no vigilance can guard against — no caution can ward 
off, from their suiToundings — from what they see and 
hear in the every day walks of life — from the common 
sentiment in the midst of which they live and move 
and breathe : and an education, too, that is to shape 
their destiny for life, and be as lasting as eternity! 
and hence, influenced by the feelings and the aifections, 
the hopes and the fears of a father, I don't want my 
child to imbibe, from the moral atmosphere in which 
he breathes, sentiments adverse to the word of Grod, 
injurious to the well-being of society, and destructive 
to his future hopes and prosperity as a successful and 
good citizen. It is a duty that I owe my own 
offspring to try to throw the salt of health, and 
morality, and virtue into that society and public 
sentiment, that is to stamp their characters with 
moral lineaments lasting as ceaseless ages ! 

Third. It is my duty, not only as a private citizen 
but as a Minister of the Gospel, to aid in establishing 
civil law and public order. The truth is, the pulpits 
of the land are the pillars of civil power, and must of 
necessity be so in all really free governments. This 
is almost a truism. It is eminently verified in the 
past history of our country. Ministers of the Gospel 
led the "Pilgrims" that brought Liberty and Pro- 
testant Chritianity to New England. The name of 
an eminent Minister of the Gospel is signed to the 
immortal "Declaration of Independence." Ministers 



14 

of the Gospel commingled with the revolutionary 
armies, aiding them with their counsel, with their 
prayers, and with tlieir blood ! Washington, and the 
leading politicians of that day, when the constitution 
of the United States was promulgated, and was of 
doubtful success, invoked the aid of the Ministers of 
the Gospel in carrying it into successful effect. Gen- 
eral Jackson, during "the late war," was assisted by 
Ministers of the Gospel in sounding the tocsin, 
raising the clans for freedom, and descending like an 
avalanche upon the invaders of our shores, and driving 
them from our borders ! Nay, liow long, think you, 
the free government of these United States, or any 
State government would last, were there no pulpits 
in the land? Pull down these pulpits, close these 
church doors, mufHe these church bells, and banish the 
Ministers of the Gospel from the land, and where would 
your boasted Freedom be in less than a lustrum of 
years'? The question needs no answer. How perfectly 
absurd, then, is it, and how indicative of ignorance, 
for any one to imagine that it is not my duty, as well 
as my privilege, to enforce the doctrine of my text, 
and aid in establisliing civil law and public order ! 

Fourth. But still further, it is not optional with 
me whether I will remain silent, through a shrinking 
and carnal policy, dictated by unmanly fears, un- 
worthy of an "Ambassador" of the Lord Jesus 
Christ — for he who is not willing, if need be, to 
sacrifice his life for the truth that he preaches, is not 
fit to hold that highest otfice among men; I say it is 
not optional with me whether I will or will not 
preach obedience to Civil Laws, since it is a Bible 
doctrine clearly, repeatedly, abundantly set forth in 



15 

the Word of God, and therefore, as a Minister of the 
Word, I dare not hesitate to do it. 

The doctrine of the text is most explicit and ex- 
actly to the point: — "And they" (the Jews) "sent 
unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians 
to catch him in his words;" and, after a good deal 
of artful flattery, they said unto him, "Master, is it 
lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not? shall we 
give? or shall we not give?" You will bear in 
mind that the government of the country was a 
usurped one, won by the sword — not republican, not 
christian, but despotic and pagan. Obedience to 
Caesar (by which was meant the Roman government) 
was believed by the Pharisees to be a violation of the 
Theocracy in which no other king was recognized but 
God. Powerful, therefore, was the inducement, in 
the estimation of the Jews, to take ground against 
obedience to civil law. Indeed, if it were possible to 
find a valid argument against obedience to civil law, 
whilst at tlie same time we recognize our obligation 
to the law-making power, it certainly would be found 
here, since "to pay tribute to Ca3sar" might be 
construed into a virtual support of usurpation, and 
of a pagan government in supposed contravention of 
the Theocracy of the Jewish Constitution! But 
what was the answer of him in whom dwelt all the 
fulness of the God-head bodily, and who spake as 
never man spake? It was — "Render nnto Caesar 
the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things 
that are God's:" — which teaches not only the duty 
of obedience to civil law, as all commentators agree, 
but, according to Doctor Joseph A. Alexander, "the 
two duties are in perfect harmony, and rest upon one 



16 

and the same principle." *'By rendering to Caesar 
what is his, you render unto God what is his." 

In view of such teacliing, therefore, on the part of 
the great Founder of Christianity, well might we 
expect to find his Apostles and Disciples every where 
inculcating the same doctrine. Take the following 
as a specimen: Paul says — "Let every soul be 
subject unto the higher powers. For there is no 
power but of Grod ; the powers that be are ordained 
of God." Peter says — "Submit yourselves to every 
ordinance of man for the Lord's sake : whether it be 
to the king as supreme: or the governors, as unto 
them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil 
doers, and for the praise of them that do well." 

The Old Testament is equally explicit in its teaching 
on this subect: "Thou shalt not revile the gods," 
(the civil authorities) "nor curse the Ruler of thy 
people" — "Fear thou the Lord and the King, and 
meddle not with them that are given to change" — 
" Curse not the King, no not in thy thought." Peter 
speaks of those whom the Lord will reserve to the 
day of judgment to be punished, "But chiefly them 
that despise Government, and are not afraid to speak 
evil of dignities." Paul again exhorts: "Be subject 
not only for wrath, but for conscience sake" — "For 
this cause pay ye tribute also : for they are also God's 
ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. 
Render, therefore, to all their dues : tribute to whom 
tribute is due ; custom to whom custom ; fear to whom 
fear; honor to whom honor." — "Put them in mind to 
be subject to principalities and powers to obey magis- 
trates" — "Whoever resisteth, resisteth the Ordinance 
of God ; and they that resist shall receive damnation." 



17 

How is it possible for the honest and fearless Am- 
bassador of the Lord Jesus Christ to keep his lip^ 

sealed on the great doctrine of the text in view of 
the abundant, the overflowing, the tremendous utter- 
ances of Holy Writ, clearly and explicitly pointing 
out and enjoining his duty on that subject? 

Fifth. But once more, it is my duty peculiarly as 
a Presbyterian Minister to inculcate the duty of 
obedience to civil lav/s, because it is made so by a 
separate and distinct a.i'ticle in the creed — the ^'Con- 
iession of Faith" of the great church of which I am 
nn humble Minister. Chapter XXIII. of the Con- 
fession of- Faith treats "Of the Civil Magisteate,*-' 
and Section IV. of that Chapter reads as follows, viz: 

''It is the duty of the people to pray for Magistrate?, to honor their per- 
tons, to pay them tribute and other dues, to obey their lawful commands, 
iind to be subject to their authority, for conscience sake. Infidelity, or dil- 
ference in religion doth not make void the Magistrate's just and legal aa- 
ihority, nor free the people from Jue obedience to him." 

But it is needless, my hearers, for me to dwell on 
this part of my subject. That it is my right, mj 
privilege, my duty — as a citizen with common rights 
and immunities, and interests in the present and 
iiiture of our country — as a father of children that 
arc growing up and imbibing an ineffaceable moral 
Ci^haracter from the social atmosphere in which thej 
live — as a friend and supporter of the free and 
republican institutions of this great country, where I 
expect to live and die, and my posterity after me — as 
an Ambassador of Jesus Christ, '*King of Kings and 
Lord of Lords," v/ho has commissioned me, and 
(Sommanded me to preach obedience to civil laws as a 
christian duty — and an humble Minister of the wide- 
extended, eonseiTative, and powerful Presbyteriam- 



18 

Church in these United States, whose creed enjoins 
it as a part of my faith and practice — I repeat, as 
«uch, it is needless any longer to advocate my high 
piivilege — my solemn duty, to enforce the doctrine 
of my text, the duty of reverential respect and 
obedience to civil laws. Nor would I have dwelt so 
long, nor half so long, on this part of my subject, 
had it not embodied the very gist and marrow of the 
great theme which I am discussing. Indeed, were I 
to stop here and say no more, I consider that I have 
said enough to satisfy every Bible-reader and Bible- 
believer, that it is the binding duty of every Christian, 
and every good citizen, to render by act, and by 
word, and by every other lawful influence, respect 
and obedience to the constitutional laws of the land, 
so long as the laws remain unrepealed, and we 
recognize our allegiance to the Government that 
ordains them. 

But there are other aspects of this interesting- 
subject, to which I desire now respectfully to call 
your attention. It cannot have escaped the serious 
and reflecting observer of the signs of the times, that 
the tendency of things for the last few years has 
been calculated to awaken the well grounded fears, 
and to excite the painful apprehensions of every 
patriotic citizen. It would seem that mobocracy and 
lawlessness are becoming the order of the day tlu'ough- 
out the entire length and breadth of our country ! 
As illustrations of this fearful and rapid tendency, I 
would instance the frequency with which the laws of 
the United States have been openly trampled under 
foot in New England, the honored cradle of American 
liberty : — the rebellion in Kansas, so destructive of 



19 

life, property, and good morals : — the numerous vigi- 
lant-mobs, fearful and terrible in their lawless ten- 
dencies, that ]iave disgraced many of our large cities 
and towns : — the fillibustering expeditions along our 
southern and western borders : — and the general dis- 
position to trample upon law, and set its officers at 
defiance every w^here : — and most alarming of all is 
the cowardly disposition of many of the law-abiding, 
and order-loving part of the community, wdiich con- 
stitute for the most part a large majority, if they did 
but know it, to wink at, or to shrink from opposing 
and boldly denouncing such fearful and destructive 
tendencies to inevitable ruin ! I have lived long 
enough, and my experience has been such, as to con- 
vince me that two or three dozen of reckless, wicked 
men, can make the impression in a community of as 
many thousand that their o-^\moi\\f^ puhlic opinion! 
The sober, quiet, substantial part of any commimity 
are for the most part modest and shrinking — too 
shrinking for the public good. They have a great 
aversion to coming into collision with any railing 
opposition. They are quiet, and silent; and their 
voice is not heard nor their arm raised in antagonism. 
And hence they are erroneously thought to acquiesce 
with tlie noisy ! — Indeed they themselves do not know 
their own strength. Whereas on the contrary the 
lawless and reckless few make a great out-cry, from 
the fact that wickedness is a very active virus in the 
bosom of man, and nerves him with unwanted energy. 
Moreover such for tlie most part loosen their tongues, 
and add to their garrulous propensities by artificial 
stimulants, so that they are bold, fearless, and brazen 
'm uttering their lawless sentiments, and moat vocifer- 



20 

mm- m their unseemly screams and yells at the hustings 
m sq^plauding vicious opinions — and if the world 
i^enj to judge by the hideous noise made on suck 
@K.'asions — and alas ! too many do — they would 
*?«i€lude, as Elijah did of old, that all Israel had 
;|^me after Baal ! Whereas, if they were to rise up 
si!? one man — speak out and declare their sentiments^ 
Msgrj would find to their joy and astonishment, that 
^M^ij were the j[)eoj)lc — and the lawless and reckless 
w^i-Q as yet but ihe faction ! I can assure you my 
^-"Ibw-citizens that if our glorious country is ever 
-Jmien to destruction, as portended by the present 
fcrless tendencies throughout the land, it will be 
#me by the young, self-willed, ambitious Phaegtions 
^Ms I?oth sides of " the line, " who will grasp the 
M-sfF, and lash the flame-breathing steeds into madness, 
^Mst the sober, quiet, modest, order-loving, great 
s^^^rily will be culpable lookers on ! ! We do not 
Isow our strength — and the reason we do not know 
%, m that we do not siicalc out, and let our voices bo 
M--^.m-i, The righteous shoul^ be *' bold as a lion " — 
m^ feel and act as Isaiah did when he said — " for the 
lAsrd God will help me; therefore shall I not be 
#ciofounded ; therefore have I set my face like a flint, 
mmII know that I shall not be ashamed." I repeat, 
f&t nothing is more alarming in the present tendency 
M" |;Jiings, than the shrinking quiescence of good 
mmn. This may be accounted for in part, in addition 
ias^ explanations already given, by an inadequate 
ar|:jprehension of our real danger. Wc who are grown 
iffip men, and have long since had our principles of 
^ih and practice firmly established, do not feel that 
"wm aurs^dves are in any danger of being carried away 



21 

l)y such disorderly tendcucies. True, but we forg^ 
liow short a time it requires for our chihireu to p-i>w 
up and become actors, zealous, self-willed, head-stix^^f 
actors on the great theatre of political affairs ! Plesss^ 
bear in mind that it requires only twenty-one je^^m 
to travel from the cradle to the ballot-box — and le^ 
time than that in this dynasty of " young America.,'^ 
to shoulder a musket, gird on a bowie-knife, gmA 
pocket a revolver, and set parental and all oiijjsr 
authority at defiance ! Here lies the dreaded danger- 
not that tve, the fully grown up and mature, are liaBI/e 
to be much influenced by the tendencies alluded t?!^ 
but the danger is that the Rising Generation^ whom;^ 
short time, long before your head and mine are hml 
under the sod, if we live out the ordinary term «3f 
hmuan life, will have the reins of Clovernmentj Ite 
law-making power in their own hands ; this genem&i^ 
will and must of necessity receive an education., a 
bent, a bias from this disorderly state of things, deeplj 
iugraven as in rock, and ineftaceable as the law.?, af 
mind and of nature, which will inevitably shape tfesir 
destiny and the destiny of our country ! Now in Vmw 
of these facts and considerations v/hich are indispu- 
table, I appeal to you, fathers and heads of familii^s^ 
and patriotic citizens, young and old, whether it lje 
not the bounden duty of every one of us to set msn 
faces like a flint against this lawless tendency, ajid tm 
use our utmost endeavors to stay the immoral influesi'e 
that is so rapidly, and so' inevitably moulding die 
minds and hearts of our children who will so .s.oem 
mould and control the country, which in time m 
destined, for good or for evil, for tlie wTal or woeaf 
our species, to influence the w^orld ! ! 



22 

The position is now taken by some good men, and 
advocated with great learning and ability that 
America, protestant America, is the " Eestored Israel 
of God, " promised in such glowing terms by the 
ancient prophets. And if it be so, if America is 
indeed to become the "Promised Land" to the down 
trodden people of God, the "great high way" of 
the nations, and the moral Light-House whose 
effulgent radiance high and lifted up is to penetrate 
with benign rays all lands, and is it not a grand 
thought well calculated to ennoble every American 
bosom ! will it not famish a most powerful stimulus 
to every christian, to every philanthropist, to every 
good man, to use his utmost endeavors, to heal, purify, 
and preserve in its integrity this great Nation, that, 
imited and harmonious, is so soon to give laws to the 
whole earth ? 

We feel proud of our Government, and justly. It 
is called by the Nations of the world "The Great 
Republic!" But I can assure you, my hearers, that 
its glory consists in being Christian. And wlienever 
Christian principles cease to have their influence in 
our Legislative bodies, that moment we enter a 
current that sweeps us into the maelstrom of political 
destruction, resulting in anarchy first, and despotism 
next ! " The edifice of human liberty, " says 
Professor M. B. Hope, " can stand secure only when 
it rests upon the Bible ; for this conclusive reason, 
that tlie intelligence, and still more the moral 
principles, which we liave seen to be essential, cannot 
in the nature of the case exist, and in point of fact 
never have existed permanently, except under the 
illuminating, renovating and commanding influence of 



23 

the Christian revelation." *'Itis the spiritual life 
and power of Christianity moulding our institutions, 
actuating our rulers and law-makers, and controlling 
the moral principles of our people, in virtue of their 
personal subjection to its sway, and nothing else, that 
can successfully counteract the evils which are ever 
rising up to tin-eaten the life of our national 
freedom. " 

The great Washington in his Address to the people 
of the United States declining being considered a 
candidate for re-election to the Presidency, makes use 
of the following language : "Of all the dispositions 
and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion 
and morality are indispensable supports. In vain 
would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who 
would labor to subvert these great pillars of human 
happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men 
and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the 
pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. 
And let us with caution indulge the supposition that 
morality can be m.aintained w^ithout religion. Wiat- 
ever may be conceded to the influence of refined 
education on minds of peculiar structure; reason and 
experience both forbid us to expect that national 
morality can prevail in exclusion of religious prin- 
ciple." 

" The framers of our Constitution, " says the 
celebrated Wads worth, "recognized their obligations 
to act as in the everlasting presence of a higher than 
human authority. And they did act as in such 
presence. Protestant Christianity is positively part of 
our common law, and part of our Constitution. The 
civil law of this land lifts a Protestant Bible in every 



24 

official inauguratiop, and proclaims the Sabbat! i a,«* 
consecrated to God, alike in the halls of our higher 
national council, and in the rudest hut of the 
borderer." 

" Christianity," says the Supreme Court of Penn- 
sylvania, "general Christianity is and always has 
])een a part of the common law of Pennsylvania * * 
Christianity witli liberty of conscience to all men." 
"From the time of Bracton not to go farther back," 
says the same authority, "Christianity lias been 
]'eceived as part of the common law of England." 
"No free Government exists in the word," continues 
the same high authority, "unless where Christianity 
is aeknov/ledged and is tlie religion of the country. 
So far ft'om Christianity, as the counsel contends, 
being part of the machinery necessary to despotism, 
the reverse is the fact. Christianity is part of the 
common law of this State. It is not proclaimed by 
the commanding voice of any human superior, but 
expressed in the calm and mild accents of customary 
law. Its foundations are broad and strong and deep; 
they are laid in the autliority, the interests, the 
aiFections of the people." 

Daniel YVebster, one of the greatest, if not the very 
greatest, exponent of the law our country has ever 
produced, says: 

"Christianity i^ part of the law of tlic land. This was the case among* 
the Puritans of New England — tl:e Episcopalians of the Southern States — 
the Pennsjivania Quakers, the mass of the followers of Whitefield and 
Weslej, and the Presbyterians; all brought, and all adopted this great 
truth, and all have sustained it. And where there is ar.y religious sontimcat 
amongst men at all, this sentiment incorporates itself with the law. Every 
thing declares it. The massive cathedral of the Catholic; the Ei^iscopa- 
lian church, with its lofty spire pointing heavenward; the plain temple or 
the Quaker; the log church of the hardy pioneer of the wilderness; the 



25 

Tiiemcntoes and inomoi-iaLs around and about us ; the oonsecratod grave- 
yards, their tombstones and epitaphs ; their silent vaults, their mouldering 
contents ; all attest it. The dead prove it as well as the living. The 
generations that have gone before speak to it and pronounce it from the 
tomb. We feel it. All, all proclaim that Christianity, general, tolerant 
clrrlstianity, independent of sects and parties, is the law of the land." 

Now, my hearers, what is the ine-vitable inference 
— the grand conclusion that is forced upon us by this 
conjoint, harmonious, and eloquent testimony of 
philosophers, sages, law-makers, and supreme judges, 
all agreeing and all declaring as with one voice and 
with one tongue, that Christianity is — not only an 
indispensable element of our moral well being — not 
only an essential pillar to the permanency and stability 
of our free government — but more, that it is itself "A 

PART OF THE COMMON LAW OF THE LAND?" The 

inference, the grand conclusion is, that disohedmice 
to civil law is — alilvc in the judgment of Biblical 
commentators, and legal exponders of the highest 
authority — eebellion against God ! 

In this country, Lavv^ is our only King ; and wc^ 
each individual member of society, are the pillars of 
his sublime throne. It is our only protection and 
safe-guard. It is the exponent of public sentiment 
constitutionally expressed — and is strong, not on 
account of its pains and penalties in the lette)'^ nor of 
the brute force, as in despotic countries, that may 
attend its administration, but on account of its hold 
on the affections of the people. Therefore to violate 
law — to set it at d^i^fiance, or to defeat its design and 
intention, by any otlier than the constitutional means 
— that is, by repeal at tlie ballot-box, or by the 
decision of the Supreme Court, is virtual treason, and 
real, unvarnished loicJccdncss : it is a crime against 
God, and against man! 



26 

Men may, on sudden emergencies, sometimes act, 
not in violation of law, but without the forms of law 
— that is, do in the absence of law% w^hat the law 
would do if it could be brought to bear. But this is 
a very different thing from acting contrary to and in 
violation of the laws of a Government which we still 
recognize, and to which we still profess to owe 
allegiance. Such irreverence for constituted authori- 
ties, such disobedience to civil law, is not innocent — 
nay, it is a crime, that will admit or no justifiation, 
nor even of imlUation, in this republican countr}', 
where the opinion of a majority, constitutionally 
expressed, makes law; and which law, if wrong, 
imwise or defective, may be declared inoperative and 
set aside by the Supreme Court — I say, resistance to 
such Government — a Government to which you still 
profess allegiance — wilful disobedience to such law, 
and the advocacy of such sentiments is not innocent, 
it is pernicious, because it leads directly to w^rong, to 
violence, to mobocracy, to anarchy, to blood-shed and 
to destruction. Let us test this assertion : Suppose 
one hundred men, or one hundred thousand, it matters 
not, any number less than the law-making majority — 
determine to violate a lavr, I care not on what plea, 
I ask whether, on the same principle, ten men may 
not do the same ? And if ten may, will not the same 
logic justify one? What is the difference? Where 
will this doctrine lead to ? A child can answer that 
it will lead to the destruction of all law, and all 
organized Government ! Might will make right. 
This will result, first, in the formation of numerous 
small marauding bands — then of larger and fewer — 
and last, of an iron despotism! Now I ask can a 



27 

principle ever, or in any instance, be right, that 
logically and inevitably leads to such appalling 
results? Can "a good tree bring forth evil fruit?" 

But again, if a minoiity, I care not how large and 
respectable it may be, has a right to violate civil law, 
and to resist achiowledged authority, (for I am not 
discussing a ccmts hclU, nor the justifiable grounds of 
a revolution,) if they may resist the law of the 
majority, has not the majority the very same right, to 
say the least, to enforce their law ? and what is this 
but to advocate civil war and bloodshed? the most 
horrid of all evils, the legitimate fruits of the most 
pernicicus of all sentiments ! ! 

The advocacy of such lawless sentiments, is wrong- 
in theory and ruinous in practice, because it moulds, 
with powerful and fearful rapidity, the minds and 
hearts of the young and rising generation, who are 
so soon to control the destinies of this great and 
constantly expanding nation. The impression that it 
makes upon my little son, and upon yours, is not 
favorable to their growing up to be law-abiding 
citizens. It is this laxness of speecli, and want of 
reverence for constituted law and autliority — law 
made by svv^orn legislators, supposed to be the wisest 
and best amongst the people, that is the true cause of 
so much law^less conduct in different parts of the land, 
our own streets not excepted. How my heart sickens, 
to hear law-makers, and grave senators in our 
legislative halls, and men in higli places — whose 
irreverent and reckless flippancy is echoed by a 
thousand lesser but self-constituted arbiters of public 
weal — speak with as much indifference of severing 
this glorious Union, the admiration of the whole 



23 

world, erected upon the fortunes, the lives and sacred 
honors of our fathei's, and baptized \\atli their tears, 
their prayers and tlieir blood, as though it were a 
thinoj of nousrht — a mere child's bauble — a foot-ball 
to be kicked out of the way ! ! 

And here I cannot refrain from transcribinsr the 
prayer of the immortal Washington, contained in his 
"Circulrir Letter," addressed to the Governor of tlie 
several States, fi'om the head-quarters of the United 
States army. It is In these solemn words : 

"I now make it my earnest prayer that God would hrivo you, rvRci the 
State over which you preside, in his holy protection ; that he would incline 
the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience 
to Government ; to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, 
for their follovt^- citizens of the United States at lai'ge — and particularly for 
their brethren who have served in the field — and finally that He would most 
graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to 
demean ourselves v/ith that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mini 
which were the characteristics of the divine Author of our blessed religion ; 
without an humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never 
hope to be a happy nation." 

With the least particle of such a spirit as dictated 
that patriotic prayer, it would be impossible to indulge 
in those dreadful imprecations against the Government 
and the Union with which our halls and hustings so 
frequently resound. Sucli reckless speech is not 
innocent, as it will not be vvitliout deleterious eftect. 
Let some one, whom the people honor, denounce and 
vilify, from day to day and from year to year, you, 
the father, in the hearing of your little hoy, your ovk^ii 
child, and think you it will not be without evil effect 
-—that your child will not grow up with diminished 
love and respect — nay, positively wanting in reverence 
and affection for you? It would be a miracle if he 
did not. Would yon risk it? "Would you sutler it? 



29 

No, not for a moment ! And will not tlie very same 
eiiect be produced upon all our children, who will 
soon reach man's estate, and upon all the wxak, sillj 
and unthinking of the land, by hearing unrebuked 
and unceasingly this flippant ribaldry about severing 
the Union! — splitting the Union! — pulling down the 
pillars of our great republican throne, as though it 
were another Dagon's Temple! — and sending an 
arrow, dipped in the poison of ignorance and fanati- 
cism, to the heart of the American Eagle, whose 
wings now overshadow the entire continent ! No, no, 
my hearers, I can assure you that such daring 
language, such irreverent speech, wdiicli, if sincere, ig 
wicked, if not sincere, is both silly and wricked, is not 
pleasing to the sober, thinking and modest part of 
the community; nay, it is positively painful, as it ig 
certainly dangerous, in that it educates our children': 
ii is therefore not good policy, is bad taste and worse 
jsnorals — let us therefore not encourage it. 

How the despots of the Old Yv'orld would chuckle 
with unsuppressed glee and exultation, to see this 
glorious, but to them terrible, Union severed into 
fragments ! And how they would, with destructive 
art, play upon the different parts, as did Philip of 
Macedon upon the factions of Greece, until we were 
all consumed ! And oh ! what a sad prospect in the 
eyes of the zealous Christian, who regards this united, 
homogeneous, christian Government as the great 
Evangelizer which is to give, not only law, but the 
Gospel to the world! How can we regard the 
cmemies of the Union in any other light than as the 
enemies of God, the enemies of a pure church, and 
the enemies of the human nice ! 



30 

I am a firm believer in *' Manifest Destiny." I liave 
not a doubt but that in due time — which will be 
God's time — a time not forced, not brought about by 
the violation of law and justice, but in due time, 
that all these Southern Islands, and all these Southern 
Anarchies, for they deserve no better name, will fall 
into our hands as a ripe apple falls to the ground. 
But that "Manifest Destiny" that attempts to go in 
advance of law and God's providence, is manifest 
outrage and wickedness w^hich will not prosper ! It 
is a remarkable fact, not generally recollected, that 
we have an account of a fillibustering party recorded 
in the Bible, which I w^ill read. It was a party in 
the "camp of Israel," that determined, contrary to 
the command of Moses, to take the "promised land" 
before God's time ! The record, which you will find 
in the XIV. chapter of the Book of Numbers, and 
which I will now read, will inform you as to the 
upshot of that fillibustering expedition : 

"And they rose up early in the morning, and gat 
them up into the top of the mountain, saying, lo, we 
be here, and will go up into the place v/hicli the Lo7'd 
hath promised, (here is their faith in ^'manifest 
destiny,'''') for we have sinned. And Moses said, 
wherefore now do ye transgress the commandjiient of 
the Lord? But it shall not prosper. Go not up, for 
the Lord is not among you: that ye be not smitten 
before your enemies. For the Amalakites, and the 
Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by 
the sword; because ye are turned away from the 
Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you. But 
they presumed to go up to the Hill Top, nevertheless 
the Ark of the Lord and Moses departed not out of 



31 

the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and 
the Canaanites, which dwelt in that hill, and smote 
them, and discomfited them even unto Hormah." 
And so it will be w^ith every other fiiiibustering 
expedition w^hich, in violation of the laws of God 
and the laws of man, attempts to anticipate God's 
providence. 

But there is one otlier evil resulting from this 
tendency to encroach upon law and order, from this 
laxness of speech, and want of reverence for law 
made by sworn legislators, that is looming up fearfully 
in all parts of our great country ; it is tliis : Irreverence 
for law begets irreverence for lawwnakers and 
administrators of law% which, in turn, will soon 
result in our best men not consentinor to become 
legislators and government officers ! The evil of this 
state of things will be perfectly astounding ! Who 
can depict the future of our country w^hen good men, 
out of sheer self-respect, refuse to condescend to 
take part in our legislative councils and the affairs of 
the government; when the sword, the purse, the 
army, and the navy of the country fldl into the hands 
of ambitious, bad men ! I can assure you, my hearers, 
that, according to my judgment and observation, the 
current of popular ebullition and utterance, nay more, 
of overt action, is fearfully tending in that direction ! 

Let me say, in conclusion, that in this "Great 
Republic," this "Free Country," wdiere public sen- 
timent, constitutionally expressed, is law, every good 
citizen should reverence law, and feel individually 
and morally responsible for its faithful execution. 
What can the officers of the law do in this free country, 
where military force w^ould be a stigma upon our 



82 

boasted freedom, unless they are sustained by the 
people ? Let it be a maxim written upon the mind, 
the heart, the conscience of every American citizen^ 
that each and every member of the community i» 
responsible for the welfare of the whole! Con- 
sequently each one is bound to think — is bound to 
have an ojjijiion — is bound to give utterance to his 
sentiments — and is bound to use his injluence, much 
or little, in support of virtue and the suppression of 
of vice! Timidity in expressing our opinions in 
relation to moral conduct is very revrehensihle. To 
be silent in this land v^^here public sentiment is law, 
and the only law, is to be virtually a party in the 
transgression. We are all watchmen upon the walls 
of public welfare — and are all bound to ''cry aloud 
and spare not" when we see the danger. Ambrose, 
an eminent father of i\\Q ancient church, was accus- 
tomed to say, "As we must give an account for out 
idle words, so likevrise must we for our idle silence." 
May the Lord add his blessing, for Christ's sake, 

Ajtej^. 



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